Intravenous (IV) fluid delivery pumps are used to deliver fluid to a patient or to draw out fluid from a patient's body. IV fluid infusion typically requires patients to be tethered to the pump by the IV line. This can limit patient mobility and cause a significant amount of medical fluid to be lost in the dead space of the IV line. Further, a long IV line can increase the amount of time before a patient receives the medication. In order to increase the patient's mobility, the patient can be disconnected from the IV line or the length of the IV line may be increased. However, disconnecting the IV line from the patient increases the chance of blood stream infections, result in line obstructions and excessive false alarms. Increasing tubing lengths also adds to dead space in the line.
Further, the tubing is generally formed of flexible materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane and silicone rubber. The tubing and plastic components of the system can be affected or degraded by exposure to certain therapeutic agents that damage the plastic and/or causing the release of chemicals into the fluid path. Silicone rubber has a relatively high permeability rate of oxygen and nitrogen transfer thereby presenting a risk of gas migration from the atmosphere through the tubing wall and into the medical fluid. This gas transfer may lead to gas bubbles within the medical fluid, which, if transported through the tube and into the bloodstream of a patient, present a hazard to the patient for air embolism. PVC provides a good gas barrier but can contain di-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) plasticizer that tends to leach out into the medical fluid, in particular oncology medications such as docetaxel and paclitaxel.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for improved fluid delivery systems.